JP2001332267A - Welding device for current collector of cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a molding device for a current collector with high productivity. SOLUTION: A cooling member with a thermal conductivity higher than a mold main body is directly contacted to the mold body, and a cooling effect is raised through flowing a cooling medium into the cooling member. The mold main body is composed of a substance like a mold iron, then, it is more effective if aluminum or aluminum alloy as a material for the cooling member is employed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a current collector casting apparatus used for a battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, current collectors for lead-acid batteries are mainly manufactured by a casting method or a machining method by expanding or punching. The machining method enables continuous production of current collectors, and since a consistent line can be installed up to the paste filling and drying process, productivity is extremely high.Furthermore, thin collectors for high output and light weight are used. While the production method is easy, the casting method is a batch method, so that the productivity is low and the production of a thin current collector is difficult.

On the other hand, the casting method can not only form a current collector having an arbitrary shape such as a grid of a paste-type electrode plate or a core of a clad-type electrode plate, but also, for example, a shape having a small electric resistance or a mechanical structure. It is still an important manufacturing method because it has the advantage of being able to easily create a shape that is difficult to deform in nature. Various improvements have been made to the structure around the mold (hereinafter referred to as the mold). Came.

[0004] Usually, a mold is a pair of a fixed type and a movable type,
Each template structure is basically the same. FIG. 3 shows an example of a conventional mold. The mold has a structure in which a heater 2 'is attached to a mold main body 1' having a current collector engraving 5 'and a heat retaining plate 3' is covered, and one to several molds are arranged near a gate 4 'for pouring a molten lead alloy. In the gate cooling pipe 6 'of the
A cooling medium is supplied to cool around the gate of the mold body 1 ′ where the temperature is most likely to rise. A temperature sensor (not shown) is provided on the mold body 1 ′ to control the temperature of the mold body 1 ′,
Heating and heating are performed by the heater 2 ′ as needed, mainly during startup.

[0005] The operation sequence of the mold is as follows. First, when the movable mold is closed and comes into close contact with the fixed mold, a molten lead alloy (hereinafter referred to as "hot water") is poured into a gate 4 'at the top of the mold. A cooling medium of water or oil is circulated in the gate cooling pipe 6 ', and the movable mold is opened in anticipation of cooling and solidification of the hot water flowing into the product engraving part 5'. Operate to drop the product while protruding. Then the movable mold closes again,
Repeat the same action.

[0006]

In the above-described operation of the mold, the higher the repetition rate, the higher the productivity. However, in the conventional mold, when the speed is increased, the mold body 1 'is increased.
In this case, the temperature of the lower part of the mold body where the product engraving portion 5 'is located rises and the mold is opened before the hot water is sufficiently solidified, and an appropriate product is often not obtained.

In order to improve this and increase the cooling rate of the mold, a cooling pipe is arranged near the product engraving portion 5 '.
The mold temperature dropped only in the vicinity of the cooling pipe, and the molten metal flow was poor at this point. Insufficient flow of hot water has a disadvantage that the product is cut off or the frame runs out. In addition, casting failure of the product due to peeling of the release agent applied to the mold engraving surface was apt to occur.

In addition, the mold is deformed due to uneven temperature distribution, and the opening and closing operation of the mold does not work well, and the warpage of the mold body 1 'hinders the adhesion of the mold mating surface, thereby causing burrs on the product. The yield was poor and did not lead to an increase in productivity.

The present invention improves the drawback of poor cooling of the mold which is observed when the mold opening / closing speed is increased by a conventional casting apparatus in the production of a current collector for a lead storage battery by a casting method, and the production of the product by cutting off a burr or a burr. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem of improvement of the performance.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for casting a current collector for a battery, wherein a cooling member made of a material having higher thermal conductivity than the mold body is provided in contact with the mold body. Things.

Particularly, in the battery current collector casting apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the cooling member is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and the mold body is made of cast iron. A device made of a suitable material is particularly suitable as a casting device for a current collector for a lead battery.

Further, in the casting apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a cooling pipe be provided in the cooling member so that a cooling medium is circulated, since a better cooling effect is exhibited.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The current collector casting apparatus of the present invention configured as described above improves the disadvantages of the conventional casting apparatus,
In particular, an excellent effect of improving productivity was obtained.

The casting apparatus of the present invention is provided with a cooling member made of a material having a higher thermal conductivity than the mold body in contact with the mold body, so that the heat of the mold body which is heated by the hot water flowing from the gate at the time of casting is quickly heated. The heat can be transferred to the cooling member. In particular, when the material of the mold body is cast iron, which is often used in the past, it is effective to use aluminum or an aluminum alloy having a thermal conductivity about four times higher than that of cast iron as the material of the cooling member.

It is preferable that the thickness of the mold body is made smaller than that of the conventional one, and the mold body comes into contact with the cooling member. This is for minimizing the mold warpage due to the temperature difference between the product engraving surface and the cooling surface. It seems that the warpage is increased by thinning, but the warp is reduced by doing so.

Further, it is preferable that a cooling pipe is provided at an arbitrary position in the cooling member, and a cooling medium is circulated. This is effective not only to make the cooling of the mold body more effective, but also to maintain the temperature distribution of the mold body properly by arbitrarily disposing the cooling pipe. The cooling medium includes air, water, oil and the like.

Since a temperature sensor is usually embedded in the mold body, the mold temperature can be more effectively controlled by controlling the flow of the cooling medium.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. This casting apparatus is an apparatus for casting a current collector for a lead battery.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a mold according to an embodiment. The material of the mold body 1 is cast iron (FCD500) having heat resistance and abrasion resistance as before, and the thickness of this embodiment is 40 mm compared to the conventional case. In the example, it was 24 mm. A conventional gate 4 and a product engraving part 5 were provided, and a single gate cooling pipe 6 was provided.

The material of the cooling member 7 is aluminum alloy (A
5052P) and the thickness was 15 mm. A number of maze-shaped cooling holes are connected inside to form a cooling pipe 8 so that a cooling medium can be circulated.

The mold contains a heater 2 and is made of steel (S
In S400), the cooling member 7 was sandwiched between the heat retaining plate 3 having a thickness of 10 mm and the mold body 1 and brought into contact with each other to form a three-layer structure. Such a three-layer structure is particularly preferred.

At the time of casting, since a large volume of hot water (molten lead alloy) called a hot water is formed in the sprue, oil heated to about 50 ° C. was circulated through the spout cooling pipe 6 to cool the sprue. Air and water were used as a cooling medium for the cooling pipe 8 of the cooling member 7. Normally only air is flowed, and when the temperature sensor built into the mold detects that the mold temperature has exceeded the set value, a method was adopted in which a very small amount of water was mixed into the air to control the mold temperature. .

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the cooling member of the embodiment, and schematically shows the cooling pipe 8 provided on the cooling member 7. This arrangement pattern may be arbitrarily selected according to the product shape.

Table 1 shows the results of trial production of a grid of paste-type electrode plates using the present embodiment and the conventional mold shown in FIG.

[0025]

[Table 1]

[0026]

As described above, according to the battery current collector casting apparatus of the present invention, for example, insufficient solidification of a molten lead alloy and poor flow of molten metal due to local cooling can be suppressed.
High quality products can be provided even if the casting speed is increased.
Productivity is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a mold according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a cooling member of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional mold.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. → Mold body 2. → Heater 3. → Heat insulation plate 4. → Gate 5. Engraving part 6. → Gate cooling pipe 7. → Cooling member 8. → Cooling pipe

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Nishida 1st institution, Nishino-sho, Inomaba-cho, Kichijoin, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Japan (72) Inventor Noboru Yachi, Kichijoin, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto No. 1 Nishinosho Inobamabacho F-term in Japan Battery Co., Ltd. (reference) 4E093 KA01 KA03 NA04 NB05 NB09 TA03 5H017 AA01 BB02 BB19 CC05 EE02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for casting a current collector for a battery, comprising a cooling member made of a material having a higher thermal conductivity than the mold body in contact with the mold body. 2. An apparatus for casting a current collector for a battery, comprising a cooling member made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy in contact with a mold body made of cast iron. 3. The battery current collector casting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a cooling pipe is provided in the cooling member, and a cooling medium is circulated in the cooling member.